Shocker! In China’s rush to be a 21st century military power, it might be possible some engineering’s been a little… rushed. That seems to be the case for this Chinese “Pterodactyl” UAV — pretty much just a bootleg Predator. Kaboom.
For comparison, here’s a side by side of the two bulb-nosed robo-planes:
The copycat drone went down in a flaming wreck around the Chinese village of Huining, Chinese Defence Mashup reports, and was eagerly photographed by locals before the government locked the area down. Why? It’s rather embarrassing when your drones crash for no apparent reason on your own turf, that’s why. At least our drones have the decency to be spectacularly shot out of the sky or s**t the bed in the line of fire. [China Defence Mashup via Flight Global]
Predator photo by Gary Williams/Getty; Pterodactyl model photo by Greg Waldron